NBC's Fall Lineup: The New Normal

"No Expiration Day"
by Sharon Norris Elliott

photograph by Böhringer

As I see the previews of the new season of television shows, my heart is burdened by how far society has come in its acceptance of all that God calls unholy. Many times wrapped in comedic attire, we are lulled into complacent approval of the profane. The new set of shows, however, is merely a continuation of our contented march toward being okay with thoughts, actions, and attitudes from which we are supposed to be delivered. We laughed at George Jefferson’s racism on The Jeffersons, snickered at the dysfunctionality of the family on Married with Children, and called it a stand for women’s liberation as single females jumped in and out of bed with multiple partners on Sex in the City. Now in this season’s line-up, we are hard pressed to find a show that is not touting the homosexual agenda.

The airwaves’ biggest accomplishment toward moving us toward complete acceptance of all that God’s against is the show title The New Normal. It’s not so much the show itself as it is the title that should be upsetting us. We’ve given approval to dysfunction and free sex, so now it’s only logical to approve of this new way of looking at family as “normal.”

Sin may be typical and common, but living in that state is never supposed to be normal for the child of God. There is no expiration date on God’s standards. In his opening comments to believers living in Galatia, Paul writes, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” Galatians 1:3-5 (NKJ).

Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us was meant to “deliver us from this present evil age,” not to cause us to become like it. Be it racism, dysfunction, loose sexual morals, homosexuality, or a host of other sinful ills thrust in our faces by the media, our charge is to remember that we’ve been delivered—rescued—from the degenerate influences of the world around us. And we are to speak the truth about them.

Prayer of Adoration: God, how appreciative we are of the deliverance You have provided from the influences of the evil age in which we live.

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©2012 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website, and now also available on Kindle!